For Forever
by Kiro Angel
Summary: Severus has a benefactor. They stay with him for years, always providing the right thing at the right time, and always with a note. As the years go on, Severus grows closer to this mysterious gift giver. Who are they? HPSS, EWE, slight AU, secret admirer fic, slash


AN: I do not write enough things in Snape POV. I just don't. And I need to. So this.

Okay, so I wrote this in a day and a half and it was horrible. Not just bad, but one of the worst things that has come out of my fingers. But. I spent a couple of days just editing the damn thing, and now I have this puppy. You had better like the thing.

Severus is quite OOC in this, and it doesn't go a lot into his motives, but it is pretty cute in my opinion. In the canon, at the end Harry would be bleeding to death on the floor while Severus huffed and stormed from the Great Hall. But what's life without a little romance, no?

This was actually inspired by all the secret admirer fics everywhere, so thank you people.

None of the characters, settings, or shared plot are mine as they all belong to JK Rowling.

Enjoy!

~Kiro

PS- This is dedicated to my mother, who taught me that words can have weight greater than anything else.

* * *

It started during the hostile takeover of the Ministry, the year that Severus had to balance his regular teaching, Occlumancy lessons with that Potter brat, Death Eater meetings, and that damned Umbridge woman all at once.

Severus had just gotten back from another meeting with the Dark Lord and was too out of his mind with the lingering pain from the Crucios to remember the existence of his pain potions. It was all he could to to walk in a straight line to his chambers in the dungeons and shed his robes and mask before stuffing them in their hiding place.

Severus almost collapsed onto the bed, but managed to notice a vial and a note on his sheets before he did so. The deep blue green of one of his own pain potions greeted his eyes. Severus opened the vial and sniffed it, searching for any hidden or dangerous ingredient. Finding none, he downed it in one. Finally to a reasonable level of mental faculty, he plucked the note from his black sheets

_For the pain_ was all it said.

~

Severus had almost forgotten the incident with the pain potion when it next happened. He had just strode into his office, desperately sleep deprived but with a pile of sixth and third year tests that had to be graded before the end of the week. It was Thursday. Severus walked, comatose, to his desk, body moving mechanically and his mind dreading the coming work. However, just as Severus reached his desk he noticed that red marks were already scattered over the exams in his handwriting.

Confused and suspicious, Severus picked up the first perfectly graded exam, causing a small note to fall to the floor. Ignoring it for the moment, he checked over the test. It was perfectly graded according to his answer key, though lacking in the acerbic comment area. It was absolutely indistinguishable from a test that Severus himself might have graded when he was too tired to function properly. Severus raised an impressed eyebrow.

Bending down, Severus retrieved the note from the floor. The scrap simply read _For your well being_ in a uniform script. The parchment was standard, cheap academic grade, and it appeared to have the same tidy writing as most commercial Quick-Quotes Quills. Severus flipped back through the entire stack of tests to find that each was graded in the same manner as the first. His answer key had been used perfectly and each test was reliably graded, no altered grades from what Severus could tell. The note leaver had just saved him about three hours tedious work. Severus left to catch up on some well-needed sleep.

~

The mysterious helper appeared at many points over the next year, always when Severus needed something the most, and it never did or said the same thing twice. The mystery benefactor always left a note in that Quick Quotes writing on cheap parchment, and always the note read _For the... _Each note accompanied a task or gift that made Severus's life bearable.

During one of his rare bouts of homesickness, Severus received a book of the poetry his mother used to read to him. That was one of his only good memories of his mother, her reading to him in his bedroom while his father was taking a drunken kip on the couch, and he treasured it. The book was accompanied by the note _For the nostalgia._

After the Gryffindors managed to hex all of Severus's robes fuchsia, he walked into his room to find the countercurse and a top-of-the-line hex tracer with the note _For the annoyances._

After Umbridge began to request Veritaserum for use on students, Severus walked into his private potions supply room to feel new wards. In the back corner, behind a false wall in a warded and disillusioned safe, were all of his dangerous potions and his stash of Veritaserum. The setup was heavily and expensively warded, a top of the line security measure that was too secure for anyone but Severus himself to access. That time the note read _For security._

~

Severus grew almost used to the small gifts, so when he had to leave for his own home for the summer holidays, he felt something near regret. So, when he turned from packing up his things to find a new note and gift, he didn't just accept it without comment as he usually did. The person who had left it there must have been there while Severus had been packing, after all, and they could not have gone far. Severus called out.

"Thank you."

All he heard was a faint rustle in reply, and a slight closing of the door indicating that whoever it was had left. Severus moved to look at the note.

_For the loneliness._

Beside the small scrap of parchment there lay a mirror and, with it, directions.

_Breathe onto the mirror and call out "Benefactor". I will not show within as more than a silhouette, and I will answer only briefly and in an altered voice, but I will always answer if possible._

Intrigued, Severus lifted the mirror. It was a simple, black obsidian beveled circle. It had no setting, but on the back were carved his initials. He tucked it into his robes, sliding it into his breast pocket.

~

That summer was one of the least lonely that Severus had since he and Lily's falling out at the end of fifth year. Severus called his benefactor using the mirror many times. He never knew what exactly to say, though, when the other would not answer with more than a few words garbled by altering spells. So often the two sat in silence, Severus reading or brewing and watching from the corner of his eye as his companion did manual labor.

It seemed companionable, those times, until Severus or his companion would be forced to cut the connection for one reason or another. Though Severus would be loathe to say this aloud, it was almost... nice.

~

By the time the school year rolled around, Severus was both, in his emotionally stunted way, excited and nervous. It didn't matter who his benefactor was or what they did in the castle, because Severus would definitely not have as much time to spend with their silent company. He couldn't just leave the mirror on during his classes, and the other person would most likely be doing a lot more involving interpersonal relations as well, if they were anyone at Hogwarts, which they must be.

Still, Hogwarts was inevitable. Besides, Severus's benefactor would be a whole lot closer now. The intuitive nature of the gifts and favors would be a refreshing delight.

~

The welcoming feast went as planned: boring, long, tedious, annoying, and headache-inducing. The only gratifying thing about the whole ideal was the mass groan when he was announced DADA professor. Pleading a migraine, Severus fled the hall as soon as possible.

When he reached his rooms, Severus noticed a note on his sitting room's desk. He was surprised, his benefactor must have moved fast to get it here. Actually, there had never been any human intrusion into Severus's rooms, so the note was more than likely delivered employing house elves. All the same, it was an impressive feat.

As he moved to inspect the desk, Severus saw a large bar of... candy. Inspecting it, he realized that it was dark chocolate toffee. How his benefactor had known Severus's love for the stuff, he had no idea, but by now he trusted the person enough to take a small bite. He savored the delicious mingling bitterness and sweetness and nutty, chunky-smooth-sticky texture. Still savoring the bite, Severus inspected the note.

_For your welcome._

~

The next year went much the same as the first, benefactor-wise. Every so often, at the opportune moment, Severus would receive a gift or favor. Every time was unique and accompanied by a nondescript Quick Quotes note.

The only thing that changed was the tone of the gifts. While once they had mostly been sorely needed and useful, now they were sorely needed, useful, and could be construed as romantic.

After a long day of dealing with three miscast curses and a total of five students in the hospital wing, Severus found a glass of expensive firewhiskey and a note reading _For the deaf and incapable_ on his desk.

After his week's notes were involved in an incident with a mispronounced countercurse, Severus found another gift from his benefactor. On his desk the next day was a prewritten lesson book that would serve as a last minute replacement for his lost notes, as well as a new set of robes to replace the ones that had been ruined. This time the note read _For the inconvenient accidents._

After Severus had been roped into chaperoning the Halloween ball, which had a required dress code, and he realized he would have to get new robes, his benefactor appeared again. A week and a half before the ball, robes of the finest material and most flattering cut he had ever worn waited on the foot of his bed. The note read _For the boring obligations._

~

The most noticeable occasion that Severus's benefactor appeared was during the winter holidays. Most of the staff and students had retreated to their own families and homes, leaving approximately twenty people at one long table in the Great Hall for meals.

It was Christmas Day, at a late brunch with everyone in attendance, when a box materialized before Severus instead of his food. The box was black and silver striped, tied with a deep green ribbon and accompanied by a familiar note.

All eyes were on Severus as he carefully untied the ribbon and unfolded the paper to reveal a shallow black box. Ignoring the curious and baffled looks he was receiving, Severus lifted the lid to reveal the most beautiful thing had ever had the pleasure of owning that was not a potion.

A flat chain, silver and black colored titanium chain mail, draped over the green silk lining. From the chain dripped three ornaments- in the center, a bezoar carved into a coiled snake, on the right, a small vial of antivenin, and on the left, a vial of sparkling phoenix tears.

Gasps were heard from around the table as shocked students and professors watched the most feared and hated teacher at Hogwarts carefully- almost tenderly- lift the gift from the box. He undid the clasp with care and draped it around his neck, where it hung to the upper third of his sternum. He reached around to behind his greasy locks and clasped it, running his hands along the necklace in reverence. Severus Snape lifted his hair free of the chain and, admiring it one last time with a partial smile, tucked it beneath his robes.

He looked up to see wide-eyed gazes and astonished, gaping mouths. He glared.

"What do you all find so interesting?"

They all rapidly looked back to their food, turning to converse with their neighbors. Severus carefully withdrew the note from where he had slipped it into his pocket when he had unwrapped the box.

_For my respect,_  
_For my admiration,_  
_For my love_

~

The rest of the year went on much the same, with Severus's benefactor often leaving him notes and gifts or favors. As the Death Eater activity picked up, Severus found it more and more that he received a dreamless sleep potion or a calming draught on his table before bed.

It was at the end of the year, after Severus was forced to fulfill his task, that the benefactor stopped. A part of Severus thought that his benefactor had abandoned him after Severus did such a thing, the other part of him said that it was for the best since he was now under constant watch. He settled for both.

As the months went on and still no mirror call came, Severus became more and more worried. That it was all fake, that his benefactor had lost faith in him, that the mystery gift giver was captured or killed, that they were trapped somewhere. Still, Severus held out without calling his benefactor, afraid of what he might find.

The months passed and, soon, Severus became almost too busy to think about his benefactor. The war picked up and everything became a mess of dangerous, half-mad chaos. Severus stayed focused on staying alive.

The day of the final battle came, and Severus almost died. The only thing that saved him was the necklace from his benefactor. Just another thing to thank them for, Severus supposed.

He was hospitalized for a week after the final battle. Phoenix tears may heal wounds, but even they cannot replace all the blood he lost that day. Besides that, they still needed a place to keep him before the Death Eater trials.

The first day that Severus was lucid, he awoke to a single, small yellow daffodil and the note _For forgiveness._

Severus received no other gifts during his time in the hospital but that one. No one else thought to visit or thank him. The ones who would had enough on their plate with the trials and the ones who would not be in the trials simply didn't care. Severus didn't mind, though. At least, not those absences. He did mind his benefactor's silence. Severus tried to reason with himself that they were most likely just busy, but he couldn't get that tinge of bitterness from his mind.

A week after Severus awoke, he was hauled by two aurors to the Ministry to sit his trial. He almost laughed that they thought two aurors would hold him, but he supposed that they were severely understaffed. Besides, Severus went willingly.

As he reached the courtroom and took his seat, Severus felt a buzzing from his inner left breast pocket. He maneuvered his bound hands to his chest and drew out the mirror, which he had taken to keeping in his breast pocket always. As he flipped the mirror around so that he could see the surface, Severus felt a cool rush of excitement. For there was a written message on the mirror, in standard Quick-Quotes Quill script.

_For my gratitude._

Severus carefully slid the item back into his pocket just in time for the proceedings to begin.

~

Severus almost had expected to go to Azkaban. Most certainly he did not expect one Harry Potter, whom Severus had tortured for years, to take the stand and present his memories in order to get Severus off his charges. In the end, Severus only received probation for his actions during the first and second wars. He wondered if this was somehow his benefactor's doing, if they had somehow convinced the Saviour to testify for Severus, and that was what the note was about. The thought made him crack a rare smile.

~

School started two weeks late, due to the reconstruction of Hogwarts, but the new headmistress absolutely refused to put off the reopening another year. Apparently the students had suffered too much in the past year and needed some amount of normalcy.

Severus had been offered the position of headmaster, but he had rapidly declined. He'd had enough of that responsibility during the previous year and he had absolutely no desire to be reminded of those times with every moment. Instead, at the welcoming feast he was introduced and the potions professor once again, having also declined the defense position.

The Sorting and the speeches went slowly, with some mentions of "those we have lost" and "we must stick together in these fragile times of peace". The meal began with a cheer from the significantly sparser tables, and the brats dug in. Severus, too, was about to reach for his meal when a rain of parchment came into being.

Small strips of parchment fell from the ceiling to collect on the force fields protecting the food. People looked up in wonder, oohing and awing at the rain that would have resembled pure snow if not for the tiny black writing on each strip. Snatching one from the air, Severus flipped it over to see _For the hard times._

Severus snatched a handful, pawing through each slip to see the message.

_For better._  
_For forever._  
_For me._  
_For my love._  
_For worse._  
_For you._

Severus was pulled from his inspection of the strips by the appearance of... an owl. An owl of snow white parchment glided through the thinning flurry of parchment toward the head table. Severus stood as it circled about his head, lifting his arm so it could perch there. Once settled on his forearm, the paper snowy unraveled into a single banner, which suspended itself in the air above and before Severus.

On the banner were hundreds of thousands of tiny messages, one of each that had fallen from the sky. In the center of the banner, in a large scrawl that could be seen across the hall, were two words.

_For Together._

Severus watched as a figure approached, brave but cautious, through the blizzard of parchment. The professor's eyes followed as black, messy hair was covered in white and the medium height, thin figure in blackest robes floated through the storm. The male figure advanced, foot by foot, to come to a stop before the staff table.

Severus simply stood, watching, along with every other eye in the hall, as the famous figure knelt. Lowering his head, the student proffered a piece of parchment for Severus to take. Indeed, the man grasped the sheet and smoothed it, inspecting the words written in familiar script upon it.

_Marry me?_

Severus looked up.

"You...?"

"Yes, me."

"All this time?"

Harry Potter lifted his head to look into the other's eyes.

"Always."

There was silence then, only broken by the rustles of settling paper. It stretched on for more moments, waiting, waiting.

Finally, Severus rounded the table, stepping evenly in rhythm to halt before the other man. He placed a hand upon his shoulder, drawing him up into a standing position.

Severus tilted the other man's face to place a kiss upon his lips. He curved his head around to whisper in the other's ear.

"I want a _private_ wedding."

With a laugh, Harry slipped a temporary ring of parchment over Severus's finger.


End file.
